Italy - Salvini Visits Sicily Refugee Center: "The Good Times For Illegals Are Over"

To the cheer of his supporters and the harsh greeting of many protesters, the new Italian minister of the interior, Mr. Matteo Salvini of the Lega Nord, visited a refugee center on the Italian island of Sicily, where most African illegals are housed. Mr. Salvini spoke quite harshly at times, clearly surprising the conservative European press.

Although many of the journalists present stated it would be near impossible to simply send back some 500,000 illegal African migrants, Mr. Salvini assured them that his government would "not take a hard line on immigration, but one of common sense."

This week, his ministry's experts will work on a project of "how to reduce the number of arriving migrants and increase the number of expulsions" and he said he would present his findings by the end of next month.

Italy is entering a new stage in its recent history as it is ruled by two populist parties since last week, the Five-Star-Movement headed by Mr. Luigi Di Maio and the Lega Nord headed by Mr. Matteo Salvini.